A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an affordable, yet effective, system and apparatus for determining, upon request, an appropriate personalized and individually-targeted response for a particular user based upon current user-specific data with real-time delivery of that response to the user in non-volatile, re-writable visual format.
B. Description of the Prior Art
In today's competitive environment, businesses are in a constant battle to increase market share. As a result, each day we are exposed to an extensive variety of marketing techniques, including broadcast advertising on television and radio; print advertising in magazines and newspapers; various coupon delivery systems; direct mail; billboards; contests; and in-store displays. Although such advertising serves its purpose in providing widespread exposure of a product or service to the public, it has its limitations as well. For example, consumers that are constantly being bombarded from so many directions become immune to the message and may either tune it out unconsciously by disregarding it or literally by a flip of a switch, touch of the remote control, or toss into the trash can. In an environment of such saturation, it is difficult to communicate with a specific consumer in a meaningful manner so as to precipitate a desired response to the message. Further, even when these marketing techniques actually cause a consumer to choose a particular product or service, the overwhelming variety of options being thrown at the customer daily makes customer loyalty hard to attain. In addition to the glut of marketing messages, another factor responsible for the ineffectiveness of many of these marketing techniques lies in the treatment of consumers collectively rather than as individuals. It is much easier to ignore a message delivered to "anyone" and "everyone" than one delivered personally. Thus, what is needed is a marketing system that personalizes the message. As a result, the consumer's attention will be focused on that product or service and the ability to build customer loyalty will be greatly increased.
Couponing is one method that has received attention as a way of personalizing the marketing effort. For instance, coupons or other promotions may be targeted through the use of prepared mailing lists which selectively identify persons with demographic characteristics and consumption histories believed to make them more inclined to buy a particular product or service than the general public. These demographic characteristics and consumption histories are compiled through the use of huge databases and powerful computers. Although this technique may result in more meaningful and, it is hoped, more effective advertising, the problem here, once again, is that consumers are flooded with such mailings. It is easy for the consumer to disregard the mailing and toss it away. Moreover, even if the consumer acts on a coupon to visit a particular business one week, that consumer will undoubtedly have another coupon beckoning the consumer's attention somewhere else the next week.
Other forms of targeted couponing include placing coupons on or in a product for use on the consumer's next purchase of that or a related product or issuing a coupon at the checkout for a related item based on an item currently being purchased. For example, if the consumer purchases dog food, the register might kick out a coupon for dog shampoo. Because the coupon delivery in this case is directly linked to a consumer's current purchase of a given product or service, it may be assumed that such a consumer is more likely to act on that coupon. Although such a system recognizes the importance of a consumer's purchasing history in targeting and personalizing the marketing message, it has the disadvantage of basing the response, in the form of the coupon generated, on what the consumer is purchasing at that one visit. One purchase is not an effective indicator of a consumer's longterm needs or desires. Such a system has no ability to "learn" from the consumer's overall consumption history and thus present the consumer with promotions that are highly individualized to meet that consumer's needs and desires. Moreover, mere delivery of a somewhat-focused coupon response does little to personalize the message.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,306 to Stein et al., in acknowledging the advantages of a more personalized marketing approach, employs knowledge of a consumer's previous purchasing history to produce targeted promotions and product recommendations. These promotions and product picks are then delivered to the consumer at the store to assist them in making a product choice. According to the Stein et al. system, a new user is issued an identifying code and that user's personal information is gathered and entered into a database at the store. As the consumer makes product choices, the consumer's purchase or rental history is also stored on site at the location of the purchase or rental in data processing retrievable format. Promotional offers, new product information, and the like are then downloaded to the store from a central host location for use by the store in preparing personalized product picks. Also downloaded from the host is a set of rules for making determinations as to appropriate product suggestions for a user based on that user's personal information and purchasing history, current promotional offers, and the availability of specific products at that store. When the user enters his/her unique code into a data processing means at the store such as a kiosk, a POS system, or stand-alone CPU, the user code is correlated with the in-store maintained personal and purchasing information. Then, the rules are applied, and a decision is made as to what currently-available products would most likely be of interest to that user. Product picks or recommendations based on currently-available stock are then recommended in printed format such as in a paper coupon.
One important disadvantage of the Stein et al. system, however, is that it relies on storage of a user's personal and purchasing history on site at the store or other such location. In Stein, it is suggested that this information be stored in the POS system or in the coupon controller device. It is further suggested that, on an infrequent-but-regular basis, the data regarding new customers, or the purchasing or other history as to current customers, be batched and sent via a communication link to a central host system. Similarly, as rules or promotions change, they may be downloaded to all of the various store locations from the host. It is recognized, however, that it is not feasible to download information sent back to the host regarding a particular consumer at store A to stores B, C, D, etc., as the volume of information would be unmanageable. In addition, even if a customer's information from one store was linked to the other stores, it would only be available once a day or less often--after accomplishment of the upload/download with the host system. Thus, if a particular consumer visited store A in the morning and store B later that day, there would be no record at store B of the earlier purchase, rental, or other transaction.
Stein is directed primarily to the video rental business where, as the patent acknowledges, it is unusual for an individual user to use the system more than once a day. In such a case, the once-a-day polling of the in-store computer to transfer information to the host is seen as sufficient. Such would not be the case in many other businesses. It would also be impractical in coordinated marketing efforts where, for example, a purchase of food items by consumers of a specified age range during a specific time of day might precipitate the printing of a coupon for a discount on the rental of a videotape. If, however, the consumer had already rented the video, the discount coupon could be received with antagonism--an undesirable result. If the system were smart enough to know that the consumer had already rented the video, it could, for example, print out a discount coupon for a car wash or something else. Thus, it is evident that a system is needed that can provide personalized promotions and information to a consumer based on his or her up-to-the-minute purchasing history regardless of which stores or store locations he or she visits.
Another drawback of systems such as that disclosed in Stein et al. is its expense and its inability to adapt to a widely-varying set of business environments. Because the Stein system is dependent on a POS system, kiosks, and/or coupon controllers, the equipment expense may be prohibitive for many businesses. Further, even where a business already has a POS in place, there are many different interfaces and formats used in the wide variety of POS systems currently available on the market. Thus, the software, hardware, and other required components of the Stein system would have to be available in a multitude of formats to be adaptable to every site. In the alternative, the Stein system could be customized as an order for the system was received. Either way, however, offering a system that must be customized for each specific application would drive the costs too high to make it practical for a wide variety of uses. Thus, it would be advantageous to have a system that offers the advantages of personalized promotion and communication across the spectrum of POS systems without requiring expensive equipment for effective operation.
Equipment costs and the inability to service a user at multiple locations also affects the ability of a system such as the one disclosed in Stein to share the information gathering and targeted communication capabilities among multiple businesses or organizations. For instance, a restaurant which typically caters to small children may wish to install a system for a frequent-shopper program at multiple locations. It would be desirable if another business, like an amusement park, could co-sponsor such a promotion where, for example, a reduced-admission ticket to the park is offered upon a predetermined number of visits to the restaurant or after reaching a dollar value purchase threshold. As previously discussed, the Stein system does not provide an effective method for keeping track of a customer's current purchasing history at each store location. Uploading and downloading the information on every customer to each store would, at best, be slow and would require extensive memory capabilities at each location. Where the business wishing to use such a system was national or international with tens of thousands of locations and hundreds of thousands or even millions of customers, it is easy to see that such shared offerings would not be feasible. Thus, the shared promotional effort would, in effect, be confined to one or, at most a few, store locations, greatly diminishing its desirability. Shared promotional offerings would also require enhanced data processing capabilities to make more sophisticated determinations based on a greater number of parameters. Under the Stein system, this would again require expensive equipment at each system location. Thus, a system is needed that can be used in multiple locations with information regarding the user current at all times without the need for expensive equipment investments and constant polling, uploading, and downloading of data.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,991 to Valencia et al. discloses use of an integrated circuit ("IC") or "smart card" for a paperless coupon redemption system wherein a consumer purchases or is given a card with on-board intelligence. That consumer then selects coupons for products of interest to him/her, and these "picks" are then stored on the card. The consumer carries the card into a business of his/her choice where coupon amounts recorded on the card are automatically deducted from the total bill at check-out with update of the card information to show that a particular coupon has been redeemed. This system is somewhat personalized in that it permits the customer to take advantage of selected and, therefore, targeted coupons at the store of his/her choice. Further, because the customer's coupon picks are on a card which they carry, they are available for use at any time and at any system location. In addition, multiple businesses may take advantage of the system by offering their coupons for selection. While Valencia provides a good solution to targeted coupon distribution, it does not go further to provide personal interaction with the consumer at the place of business where he/she has chosen to shop. There is no personalization which would entice repeated visits, no opportunity to run frequent shopper programs or other such contests or events, and nothing to encourage a customer to try a new product or place of business. This is a static product.
Other types of user card systems have been employed to achieve a targeted system of promotion and/or communication with a particular user. In Kakinuma et al., for example, a portable magnetic card reading and writing apparatus is disclosed. The user card or data record card in Kakinuma consists of a card such as those used for credit cards provided with heat-sensitive paper at one portion of the card and a magnetic tape--at another segment of the card. The magnetic tape is similar to that on a typical credit card and may be used for recording, reading, and rerecording of machine readable/writeable data. The heat-sensitive paper serves to accommodate a visual display of the information recorded in the magnetic strip. In this manner, visual feedback is offered to the user rather than the mere machine-readable update of the information on the card as proposed in Valencia.
The visual output to the card in Kakinuma, however, is merely a direct display of the user-supplied information. A user inputs data through use of a key pad or other such entry device, and the information so inputted is then written into the magnetic stripe in machine-readable format and onto the heat-sensitive paper in human-readable format. Because the Kakinuma system is principally drawn to use as a check issuing card, it is sufficient for that application that the information written in human readable form on the heat sensitive tape is confined to the information or data input via a keyboard by the user. For instance, a user may input a check amount and a date of issuance and this data is then entered in visual and magnetic form upon the card. There is no teaching in Kakinuma to provide sufficient storage and data processing capabilities within the printer/reader/writer apparatus so that intelligent responses, such as those required for use in a personalized frequent shopper or customer loyalty program, may be determined from the data entered by the user in correlation with data stored within the unit. To have a system which is effectively personalized and targeted in its responses to the user, it is necessary to provide more than mere feedback to the user of the information the user has supplied.
While the immediate visual display of information to the user can be a positive feature in achieving the desired personalization of communication with a user, the heat-sensitive template disclosed in Kakinuma has its weaknesses. First, while it is not expressly disclosed in Kakinuma, heat-sensitive paper is short-lived in its ability to store information. Fading and/or bleaching makes the printed information difficult to read over time. Also, as with any paper product, introduction of moisture or humidity is destructive. Second, heat-sensitive paper can be used only once. It cannot be erased and rewritten upon. Thus, the card disclosed in Kakinuma makes a permanent visual record that does not accommodate the repeated updates necessary to provide a user with a continuously-current personalized response. Third, heat-sensitive paper is rudimentary in its display capabilities, not allowing for high-quality graphics or other sophisticated responses to a user. Further, there is no indication in Kakinuma that there is sufficient memory and processing capability within the card reading/writing apparatus disclosed to accomplish more than the mere reiteration of the user-supplied information into the visual display. Sufficient memory and processing capabilities, as well as a more effectual display means, are required to accommodate sophisticated promotional communications such as rewards for frequent shopping, contests, games, sweepstakes, or shared marketing programs in which various company trademarks could be displayed.
Star Micronics.RTM. has offered what it calls a "Visual Card" with related reader/writer apparatus. As in Kakinuma, the Visual Card is a card employing a magnetic strip for recording and re-recording of machine-readable information in combination with a visual print region. Unlike the heat-sensitive paper in Kakinuma, human readable text in the Visual Card System is laid down by means of magnetic particles which are aligned by a recording head to produce characters. Thus, the Visual Card System has an advantage over Kakinuma in that the visual text may be erased and rewritten. There are problems with this method of visual display as well, however, in that the print field on the Visual Card is quite limited in area, being offered as only a three-line print region. Further, any introduction of a magnetic field will tend to cancel or disrupt the visual image, making it highly unstable. In addition, the Visual Card System offers no keyboard or other direct data input means apart from connection to an external device such as a computer. Moreover, the apparatus of the Visual Card System does not include on-board memory and processing capabilities to provide sophisticated visual responses to the user based solely on the information stored on the card, and in the apparatus itself, without the need to link to an expensive external device. Thus, although the Visual Card carries data on the card itself and, therefore, has the potential of bringing current user purchasing information with it to each site location, the Visual Card System still requires expensive additional equipment such as a computer or POS system to input data and to make the intelligent data determinations required to provide highlypersonalized and sophisticated responses on a user's card. And again, even where such additional equipment is available, the Visual Card System has an unstable and confined method of displaying a response to a user in a limited area of the card.
In desiring to provide a personalized consumer response that draws that consumer's attention and focus, it would be useful to offer a system in which a response may be provided to a consumer beyond a simple visual display on the user card. Thus, a system is needed that offers users a highly-personalized and sophisticated response on the user card. In addition, it is desirable to have a system that can offer users additional responses beyond those on their user card such as sounds, lights, music, printed coupons, gift certificates, co-sponsored awards, or the like. In addition, it is desirable to provide such a system without the need for expensive additional equipment.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system that, upon request, provides a personalized message, individually targeted promotion, or other such individually fashioned response to a user based on that user's demographic characteristics, current purchasing or other activities, personal purchasing history, and other external factors such as the date or time, with each of these elements being evaluated and processed through multiple decision trees.
A further object is to provide a system which is capable of storing and processing sufficient data to provide the user with sophisticated responses without the need for external storage, processing equipment, or data input means.
Still another object is to provide an economical system wherein a user may go to any location using the system at any time and receive a personalized response in real time based on up-to-the-minute information regarding that user.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a marketing system which will provide a customer a feeling of individual significance.
It is a still further object to provide a system which is adaptable to any location regardless of the POS or operating system in place at that location.
Still another object is a system which encourages co-sponsored promotions by facilitating delivery of personalized and targeted promotions, coupons, or the like by more than one business or other such entity at all system locations without the need for expensive equipment, data translation, or interconnection.
It is another object to offer a system which provides the user with a stable and high-quality visual display on their user card.
A further object is to provide a system which delivers a visual, audible, or other such response to a user in addition to a printed message, coupon, or other such response.